Cheese, luncheon meat, and similar products and commodities are packaged today in a thermoplastic film which is overwrapped about the article to be packaged and the film is heat sealed to itself to form closure seams. After the package is heat sealed it is a problem to open the package without destroying the package and leaving it unsuitable for further use. The problem is compounded because the films for packaging such products as cheese and luncheon meat should be strong and abuse resistant and have desirable gas transmission properties yet at the same time be capable of being opened without destroying the package. Thus, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a closure and seal configuration which is easily opened by a relatively small opening force and does not destroy the package.
Numerous seal configurations have been proposed in the past which employ easy open features. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,968,396 shows an opening and separating feature for a thermoplastic film package wherein a gusset type fold provides grippable pull-apart tabs. U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,501 which issued on Oct. 27, 1970 to W. A. Work shows a package in which the edge of the closure flap is floded over so that the outer film layer is sealed to itself. French Pat. No. 1,331,100 which was filed Jan. 22, 1962 naming Mme. Beernaert (formerly Germaine Malard) as inventor shows a package with a closure seal in which the edges of the mouth of the receptacle are folded outwardly and then a heat seal is placed through the four layers of film. U.S. Pat. No. 3,655,503 which was issued on Apr. 11, 1972 to Hugh E. Stanley and George M. Tokos shows a package closure seal in which multilayer films are sealed together and when pulled apart to open the package the outer layer of one film ruptures and delaminates only in the seal area. Another object of the present invention is to provide a package and seal configuration improved over the aforementioned and other presently available designs.
The above objects are achieved by the present invention which is better understood by reference to the following summary of the invention, description of the drawings, and detailed description.